Lana's had a variety of baked goods to choose from: in addition to about 10 flavors of cupcakes, a pair of display cases were full of cookies (including several of the sugar/shortbread variety with differently flavored fillings) and other sweets. A specialty of the shop seemed to be the Mommy-Q's, consisting of fluffy vanilla frosting sandwiched between two thick slabs of cake (vanilla, chocolate, orange, lemon, spice, carrot and strawberry were among the flavors). I tried the strawberry and was impressed by the moistness of the cake. I can't recall any of the previous cupcakes I've tried tasting as moist as Lana's strawberry Mommy-Q. The frosting was light, creamy and fresh.
The Mommy-Q was just a prequel to the orange cupcake I also chose. (The cupcakes came in the same flavors as the Mommy-Qs.). Simple but pretty, the orange cupcake was topped with a thick vanilla buttercream frosting and orange sprinkles. After the spectacular moistness of the Mommy-Q, I was disappointed with the dryness of the orange cake. The frosting, however was delicious -- perfect flavor and texture.
Would I return to Lana's? If I were in the neighborhood, yes. However, I'd pass on the cupcakes and try another Mommy-Q or one of the cookies. (Kate loved the snickerdoodle she selected.)
Also this weekend, I sampled the Snowballest Chance, a Cafe Moxo cupcake I picked up while having lunch with my parents there on Thursday. Because that day was a no-sweets day (most days of the week, I abstain from sweets to balance out my cupcake sampling), I froze it for two days. In the past, I've had bad experiences with the texture of Moxo's light, airy frosting thickening after freezing, but I decided to take a chance. I was pleasantly surprised on Saturday after I had pulled it out and thawed it at room temperature. The chocolate cake, which I feared would be dry, was OK. The light, airy vanilla frosting, hidden beneath a layer of coconut, was fresh. And the marshmallow filling was thick and indulgent. I would rank this one high on the list of cupcakes I've tried from Moxo. Even though I can take or leave coconut, I found the entire confection sweet and delightful.
A side note concerning Moxo: I complained a month or so ago that the red velvet I tried there was dry as a bone -- the worst I'd tried at Moxo and possibly the worst overall. However, the day I went with my parents, my dad tried one and liked it. I suspect that my palate is more finicky because I've tried so many cupcakes in the past several months. To the average person, Moxo's "dry" cupcakes might not be so bad.
